Everyone is late for the office or class sometimes. But for some people, being late is a constant habit. They wake up late, go to class late, arrive late to invitations, go to bed late, and are the last to show up for meetings – in short, they are always late.

If someone is late for a specific reason for a day or two, no one minds. However, if it becomes a habit, people will stop relying on them. This can jeopardize your career and create various problems in your personal life.

Why Do We Get Late for Work or Other Places?

While being late might not be a serious issue before starting a career, it becomes a problem once you enter the professional world. Consistently being late for work can severely damage your career. No matter how skilled you are, if you can’t fix your habit of being late, you won’t progress in your career. This holds true even if you run a business. To effectively manage client meetings and supervise employees, you need to be punctual.

Many people can’t wake up even after multiple alarms. They finally get up and realize there’s little time left to get to the office. They rush out of bed, skipping baths and breakfast. This alone puts them in a bad mood. Then, seeing others’ reactions at class or the office makes their mood even worse. The result is a ruined day. But many people do the same thing the next day. Why does this happen?

The reasons are habit and a lack of importance given to one’s own and others’ words and actions. You are prioritizing an extra 30 minutes of sleep or watching a TV program over being on time for the office or meeting someone. If you continue doing this for a long time, it will become a habit, and you won’t be able to be on time for important matters even if you want to, because you’ve become accustomed to being late for small things. If you have a habit of being late for class, you will most likely be late for the office.

Those who are late are generally late for everything. If you are used to eating with your left hand, you will eat everything with your left hand. Also, many people are late because they try to make everything ‘perfect.’ When leaving the house, if there’s a slight wrinkle on the corner of their shirt, they start ironing it, or if their shoes look a bit dull, they start polishing them – resulting in being late for the office. Additionally, many people cannot finish tasks on time due to trying to work too perfectly. Wanting to do good work is certainly a good quality, but finishing work on time is an even better quality.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, once said, “I prefer done to perfect.”

Consequences of Being Late for the Office and Everywhere Else:

Truth be told, people who are consistently late are not just considered unreliable or lazy. Many perceive them as rude, foolish, and irresponsible. Such individuals are often accused of not caring about others. You might not be like that at all. You might want to take responsibility and respect others’ time. But because of your actions, you are constantly being underestimated by people. Some might not say anything directly or dismiss it with a laugh, but they are secretly quite annoyed. Just think, how would you feel if someone made you wait unnecessarily for 15 minutes?

Once being late becomes a habit, you will lose respect, and it might take your entire life to find a way to regain that respect. If you are constantly late, no one will want to entrust you with responsibility. No one will value your words. Even if you swear you will do something on time, no one will believe it. There can be nothing more disrespectful than that.

If you have a habit of being late, you will often miss important discussions or lectures in meetings or classes. Initially, others might help you, but when they see how little you value time, they will get annoyed and stop helping you. If you have a habit of regularly being late for work, no matter how good you are at your job, it will be difficult to get promoted. You will also lose favor with your bosses.

In business, your employees will also become careless about time if they see you are. This will harm your organization’s work. Additionally, if you are consistently late for client meetings, they will become doubtful about your ability to deliver work on time. Consequently, you will fall behind in business.

This also has a negative impact on personal life. If you are late in fulfilling promises made to your spouse or children, they will be upset with you, leading to discord in the family. In this way, in addition to missing many significant professional opportunities, you will constantly suffer from mental stress, which will make you sick in various ways. Your physical and mental peace will be completely destroyed.

A 2017 survey by “CareerBuilder” of 2,600 HR managers and 3,400 employees found that 29% of employees arrive late to the office at least once a month. And all of them were denied promotions! The survey also showed that 53% of managers want their employees to arrive on time every day. 41% of managers had fired at least one person for being late for work.

Many employees might think, what’s the harm in being 5-10 minutes late? They don’t understand the importance of their work. Every employee contributes something to running an organization. If a small screw in a large car is not properly attached, the car will have difficulty running. An accident can even happen. Many employees do not understand that their daily punctuality is crucial.